History
Warren Buffett - Hagstrom is a quality investing strategy inspired by modelling of Warren Buffett's investment approach in books by investment strategist Robert Hagstrom, including The Warren Buffett Way. It is a strategy that combines Buffett's focus on value and business quality. It uses price-to-free cash flow as a valuation measure and assesses quality using operating profit and return on equity. In his book, Robert Hagstrom explains: "Your goal as an investor should be simply to purchase, at a rational price, a part interest in an easily understood business whose earnings are virtually certain to be materially higher, five, ten, and twenty years from now." Remember, Buffett is famous for looking beyond financial measures when examining the quality of a business franchise. more »

The Market Cap is a measure of a company's size - or specifically its total equity valuation. It is calculated by multiplying the current Share Price by the current number of Shares Outstanding. It is stated in Pounds Sterling.

Stockopedia explains Mkt Cap £m...

Market Capitalisation only takes into account the value of the company's shares (equity), it ignores the amount of debt a company may have taken on and therefore isn't the best indicator of the company's size. The Enterprise Value adds the net debt to the Market Cap and is a better indicator of the minimum amount that an acquiring company may have to pay to buy the firm outright.

Operating Profit - or Operating Income - is a measure of a company's earning power from ongoing operations, calculated as the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses. When a firm has zero non-operating income, then operating income is equal to EBIT (earnings before deduction of interest payments and income taxes).

Return on equity reveals how much profit a company earned in comparison to the total amount of shareholder equity found on the balance sheet. The DuPont formula is a common way to break down ROE into three important components. Essentially, ROE will equal the net margin multiplied by asset turnover multiplied by financial leverage.

It is defined as Income available to Common Shareholders (excl Extraordinaries) divided by the Average Book Value over the period.

Stockopedia explains ROE %...

Widely used by investors, the ROE ratio shows the return being generated for every pound of equity on the balance sheet. It should be thought of as the 'internal return' that the company generates, and should not be mistaken with the market returns that shareholders may attain.

It varies by industry but ROEs of 15% or over are usually considered desirable. High ROE numbers sustained over the long term may indicate a company has a 'sustainable competitive advantage'. Such companies tend to sell at higher valuation multiples.
The impact of leverage is one of the disadvantages of focusing on ROEs as it can skew ROE upwards - an alternative is to look at Return on Capital Employed.

Return on equity reveals how much profit a company earned in comparison to the total amount of shareholder equity found on the balance sheet. The DuPont formula is a common way to break down ROE into three important components. Essentially, ROE will equal the net margin multiplied by asset turnover multiplied by financial leverage.

Stockopedia explains ROE % PTTM...

Widely used by investors, the ROE ratio shows the return being generated for every pound of equity on the balance sheet. It should be thought of as the 'internal return' that the company generates, and should not be mistaken with the market returns that shareholders may attain.

It varies by industry but ROEs of 15% or over are usually considered desirable. High ROE numbers sustained over the long term may indicate a company has a 'sustainable competitive advantage'. Such companies tend to sell at higher valuation multiples.
The impact of leverage is one of the disadvantages of focusing on ROEs as it can skew ROE upwards - an alternative is to look at Return on Capital Employed.

Return on equity reveals how much profit a company earned in comparison to the total amount of shareholder equity found on the balance sheet. The DuPont formula is a common way to break down ROE into three important components. Essentially, ROE will equal the net margin multiplied by asset turnover multiplied by financial leverage.

Stockopedia explains ROE % 2y Ago...

Widely used by investors, the ROE ratio shows the return being generated for every pound of equity on the balance sheet. It should be thought of as the 'internal return' that the company generates, and should not be mistaken with the market returns that shareholders may attain.

It varies by industry but ROEs of 15% or over are usually considered desirable. High ROE numbers sustained over the long term may indicate a company has a 'sustainable competitive advantage'. Such companies tend to sell at higher valuation multiples.
The impact of leverage is one of the disadvantages of focusing on ROEs as it can skew ROE upwards - an alternative is to look at Return on Capital Employed.

This is the share price of the company divided by the free cash flow. Free cashflow is the operating cashflow minus capital expenditures. A more detailed definition would be (Earnings before interest and taxes * (1-Tax Rate) + Depreciation & Amortization - Change in Net Working Capital - Capital Expenditure)

Stockopedia explains P/FCF...

Free Cashflow is the amount left over a company can use to pay down debt, distribute as dividends, or reinvest to grow the business.
This ratio is similar to Price to Earnings, but omitting purely "paper only" expenses.
Some companies report high profits, but they can't turn those profits into cash! A company can't survive without cash, and if it can't generate it internally it will have to go to outside investors to support it, resulting in either share dilution or increased borrowing.

Operating profit margin, also known as return on sales (ROS) is the ratio of operating profit (the amount that is left over after the variable costs of production such as wages, and raw materials have been paid) divided by sales. A healthy operating margin is required for a company to be able to pay for its fixed costs, such as interest on debt.

Stockopedia explains Op Mgn %...

A company's operating margin is most meaningfully compared against other companies in its own industry, as they will likely share similar cost structures. It is a good way to compares the quality of a company's activity to its competitors, specifically the company's pricing strategy and operating efficiency.

Also known as Return on Sales, this value is the Net Income divided by Sales for the same period and expressed as a percentage. This is one of the best indicators of the company's efficiency because net profit takes into consideration all expenses of the company. Investors want the net profit margin to be as high as possible.

Stockopedia explains Net Mgn %...

This is one of the best indicators of the company's efficiency because net profit takes into consideration all expenses of the company. Investors want the net profit margin to be as high as possible. Rising margins are seen as a positive signal although high margins do tend to attract the interests of competitors.